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| Taking your own bicycles on holidays to Germany | |
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If you want to take your own bikes to Germany, you have two options. Many people load their bikes onto their car, drive to the starting point of their Cycling Tour and leave the car at the start point. This is simple, but you may incur significant parking charges and getting yourselves back to the starting point with your bike is not always a simple matter. If you like to travel by train, Eurostar with a bike is sadly not a practical option. Bikes must be checked in for Eurostar the day before you travel, which is not really possible, and on the connecting Thalys trains from Brussels to Germany, bikes must be packed into special bicycle bags. In our opinion, the best way to travel with a bike is by ferry and rail. The easiest way of doing this is to take the Harwich-Hoek van Holland ferry. If you take the day ferry from Harwich at 0845, you get to Holland at 1615. You then travel from the port, albeit with a few changes, to Cologne, from where a comfortable sleeper train with dedicated bicycle vans runs to southern Germany and Switzerland. The train has sleeping berths, couchettes and reclining seats. We reserve accommodation both for yourselves and for bikes on this train. The next morning after breakfast you set off to the start of your cycling tour by ordinary rail services, normally arriving mid morning. Your return journey is by the same route. The big advantage of using the Harwich-Hoek van Holland route is that both ports are directly served by rail. Any other ferry port requires a significant journey by bike to the nearest railhead to catch a train. |
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